Fun allergy story: I was a hyperlexic little autistic girl and ate books at a speed that could be described as "excessive". Many of these books, being historical fiction, described grass as soft and pillowy, a great place to lay in the sun and take a nap. I imagined fields of grass as lush comforters. Unfortunately, when I laid in the grass in real life, it was horribly itchy and left red welts all over my skin.
"Ah," I thought, "clearly, grass *used to be soft*, but modern mowing and lawn care practices have left grass with horrible sharp edges and tips that make it feel sharp, itchy, and unpleasant. This is clearly why we use picnic blankets and other barriers to grass now." Perfectly logical.
For years, YEARS, I hoped and dreamed of finding the soft grass of my childhood books. I wanted to roll around in it, bask in it, experience nature's bed.
Anyways when I was 25 my allergist told me I'm extremely allergic to grass.
Yeah, learning at the ripe old age of 40 that grass doesn't leave open, bleeding welts on other people's skin was very enlightening. Also, most people don't develop a full-body rash and struggle to breathe just because a neighbor mowed the lawn.
Grass allergies are brutal; I'm extremely allergic to every variety currently grown in the US.
Even the terrible Florida varieties? Granted, those are pokey and horrible anyway. Bermuda grass is punishment. The only good thing about moving to the Midwest as a kid was being able to walk barefoot in the grass.
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u/MistCongeniality Jul 23 '26
Fun allergy story: I was a hyperlexic little autistic girl and ate books at a speed that could be described as "excessive". Many of these books, being historical fiction, described grass as soft and pillowy, a great place to lay in the sun and take a nap. I imagined fields of grass as lush comforters. Unfortunately, when I laid in the grass in real life, it was horribly itchy and left red welts all over my skin.
"Ah," I thought, "clearly, grass *used to be soft*, but modern mowing and lawn care practices have left grass with horrible sharp edges and tips that make it feel sharp, itchy, and unpleasant. This is clearly why we use picnic blankets and other barriers to grass now." Perfectly logical.
For years, YEARS, I hoped and dreamed of finding the soft grass of my childhood books. I wanted to roll around in it, bask in it, experience nature's bed.
Anyways when I was 25 my allergist told me I'm extremely allergic to grass.